Tales of the Scarlet Fairy
by jonontomin
Summary: Erza Scarlet has begun a new life with the Fairy Tail guild after escaping the Tower of Heaven. This is the story of her transformation from the broken former slave to the most powerful female wizard in the guild. I'll try to stay as true to the established canon as possible, introducing only a few original characters if necessary.
1. Chapter 1

The scarlet-haired child strode through the open guild hall, reveling in the energy and excitement that was so common in the Fairy Tail guild. The air was thick with the smell of alcohol, with a hint of cooked meat. She was far too young to be drinking such beverages, though she was curious at its ability to make the sternest man into a bumbling idiot in mere minutes. It was also much louder today than she was used to. Some of the other kids her age were gathered in a corner playing some kind of card game, though she had no interest in such trifles. Besides, she never learned how to play. They didn't have card games in the Tower of Heaven. All she could do was swing a sword. _No, that's not all, _she mused as she remembered what happened in the Tower, _If that's all I could do, I wouldn't be here right now. They said I could use magic, Requip Magic, was it? I don't know much about it, but I do know I must use it to protect people, so others won't suffer the way I did._ First she had to learn to control her ability, which would be difficult as she is the only mage in this guild with this particular kind of magic. Though, to be fair, there were many unique individuals in Fairy Tail. Suddenly a gust of wind hit her back as she heard the double doors to the guild hall fly open behind her, causing her to spin around as one of these unique individuals marched in with a snarl, blowing a lock of white hair away from her face. Erza let out a sigh when she saw who it was. Of all the kids around her age, this one seemed to want nothing more than to humiliate her at every opportunity, "Oh, hey Red, haven't seen ya in a while. You still wearing that heavy chest plate? Think it'll protect you when I ram you at full force?" her social graces were about as proper as that immodest two-piece outfit she wore.

"How many times am I going to say it? My name is Erza, not Red! Get it right or I'll personally introduce you to my blade," Erza grumbled as she patted the handle of the short rapier slung around her waist, "Also, have you no manners at all? Why do you feel the need to practically destroy the entrance whenever you enter the guild hall!?" Erza didn't normally lose her cool so easily, but her reminiscing on the Tower of Heaven brought up some sour emotions. She'd normally try to avoid conflict with that bully, Mirajane, but it _had_ been a while since she'd brandished her skills against an opponent. Mirajane's smirk broke into a devilish grin as Erza took a fighting pose.

"Just don't expect to walk away from this one without a few new scars, Red!" as she finished her taunt, her right arm contorted into a blinding light as it transformed into a black serpent. She then leapt into the air, simultaneously sprouting a pair of horns and bat-like wings.

"W-what?" Erza exclaimed in shock. She realized too late that the little she-devil had been holding back during their previous scuffles.

With a cackle Mira launched herself toward Erza, her serpent arm bearing its teeth on a path straight to her neck. It took all of armored girl's reflexes to dodge out of her path as Mira's momentum sent her careening across the room right into the game the other kids were playing. Cards flew in every direction as the group of young mages scattered. An uneasy silence settled on the Fairy Tail guild for what seemed like hours, but in reality was just a few seconds, until an outraged cry broke it.

"Mira!" screamed one of the children, a small brunette who was fortunate enough to have avoided most of the attack, "That was my favorite deck! Do you know how hard it is to find tarot cards of this quality!? I spent weeks gathering this collection!" She seemed on the verge of tears. Erza remembered that this girl had a fascination with fortune telling, and seemed to always have her magical cards in front of her. Needless to say, Erza wasn't surprised at the poor girl's outburst.

"Eh, what's the big deal, Cana? It's just a bunch of paper, just go get some more," shrugged Mira nonchalantly. Had it been anyone else, Cana would have clocked her across the head for such an insensitive comment, but she valued her life more than her pride. As quickly as the fight had started, Mira lost interest in Erza and walked over to the bar to grab some juice. Erza's eyes followed the little witch until she was certain she wouldn't try any other surprises.

"Man, I was about to win too…" came a grumble to Erza's left. She turned to see the black haired ice mage that she had come to respect over the past few months, Gray Fullbuster. He seemed to be the only one her age who could keep a level head.

"Were you playing strip poker?" chided one of the older members of the guild as he took a drag from the pipe in his mouth, "'Cause it doesn't look like you were winning if that's the case."

"Stow it, Wakaba! What would give you that idea, anyway?" retorted the ice mage. The older man playfully shrugged as Gray realized he was in his underwear. "When did I-!? Guh! Sorry… Erza," he stammered as he ran toward his discarded clothes across the room, trying to hide a blush. _Well, _most_ of the time he's pretty level-headed,_ Erza thought to herself. This whole incident had reminded her that if she was serious about staying in this guild, she had to try to make friends. It was unavoidable. She also remembered that she had to start making money fairly soon. It had been nearly six months since she officially joined and she hadn't been on a job yet. Makarov was generous, but he was no charity. If she wanted to make a living, she would have to eventually take a request off the board. Grabbing a small cookie from a plate that was left on one of the tables, the eleven-year-old strut casually over to the request board to see if there were any jobs she felt she could take.

_Escaped Convict! On the run for three months, extremely dangerous, approach with caution! Reward: 100,000 Jewel._

"I should probably start with something a bit tamer. I've never been on one of these jobs before, so I should ease my way in…" she muttered to herself, running a hand through her crimson locks.

"See anything you like?" she was caught off guard by the voice of the small, silver-haired girl suddenly at her side. Erza remembered her as the younger sister of that lunatic Mirajane, Lisanna Strauss. She was decent enough, especially when compared to her sadistic sister. She was shy but also very kindhearted; she'd come to Erza's rescue on more than one occasion whenever Mira's blood thirst got the better of her.

"I'm just looking for a job that matches my skill set," replied the redhead nonchalantly.

Lisanna quirked a lopsided grin, "Well, you certainly have a unique set of skills. I'm actually kinda jealous of you."

"What? Why?" asked Erza, turning her head from the board to the girl once again.

"Nobody in this guild can use your style of magic. In fact Requip users are so rare that there some people believe it's some form of Lost Magic," Erza could tell the small girl idolized her. Why exactly she didn't know. She didn't really know how to react. Pride wasn't an emotion she experienced very often.

"I'm usually overlooked because I use the same kind of magic as my brother and sister, and they are much better at it than I am," continued Lisanna, looking down. Erza wondered where she was going with this conversation. "Maybe if I become stronger, people will begin noticing me, you know?"

"What exactly are you trying to say, Lisanna?" asked Erza, who had forgotten about the request board.

"I guess… what I'm trying to say is… would you… would you like to team up with me for a mission?"

This had Erza taken aback for a moment. Nobody in this guild ever really talked to her, let alone requested to partner with her. She wasn't sure how to respond. Yes, she had been with Fairy Tail for a good number of months already, but she didn't join with the intention of making friends. The last time she had friends, the last time she _trusted _someone…

"Why me?"

"Well, I just… I just think you're cool. You're never scared of my sister, and you always act so tough, even though you're only a couple years older than I am," The small girl was practically gushing at this point.

"Did you have a certain task in mind to complete?" inquired Erza after taking a moment to collect herself. Lisanna's lit up even more as she held up a yellowed piece of paper.

"I have the perfect job for us!" she exclaimed as she pointed to the instructions.

* * *

"What made you think I would be good for this job?" This question had been in Erza's head for the past six hours. Lisanna described the job as a relatively harmless search and rescue, but now Erza found herself staring into the mouth of an active volcano in the middle of one of Fiore's largest mountain ranges. A carriage had carried them from Magnolia to the foot of Mt. Hakobe, where they then traversed a sketchy, six kilometer path through the mountains until arriving at the destination specified on the job description. Mt. Refuge, an ironic name considering this was supposed to be a rescue mission. The hike itself was hardly a chore for Erza, who had grown accustomed to much harsher conditions while in the Tower of Heaven. Lisanna, however, seemed to have run out of breath after the first thirty minutes of the walk. Erza had offered to take her handbag to lighten her load, but she insisted that she was "just peachy," no doubt trying to look strong in front of her new friend. Even though her stubbornness delayed their journey by at least an hour from all the stops they had to take, Erza couldn't help but take some pride in Lisanna's admiration of her. Not since Jellal had Erza had a friend who accepted her like this.

She forced herself to divert her thoughts elsewhere. Bringing up such memories now, so soon after her escape from the Tower, would only cause tears to break out of her eyes. She didn't want Lisanna to see her like that. Instead, she directed her thoughts back at the task at hand.

"So, this man we're rescuing, did the paper describe where he was trapped?" Erza asked, covering her nose to block out the burning smell of sulfur. Lisanna simply shook her head once.

"The man isn't trapped in the volcano, per se, more like he's imprisoned," she replied, also covering her nose.

Erza's brows shot up, "Imprisoned!? So we're rescuing a criminal!?" she silently scolded herself for not asking Lisanna for more details earlier. Where did she even get this job request? She didn't see her take it off the board. Was this job even legal? A flood of questions engulfed the befuddled child's head, to the extent that she didn't even hear the heavy footsteps behind her and the fleeting squeal from her companion before everything suddenly went dark.

* * *

Erza slowly opened her eyes as she was roused by the rancid smell of ash and sweat. The small form of Lisanna lay across from her. She then noticed that their feet had been chained to the wall, and they were in a cell. Through the bars Erza could make out the wide chasm that was the volcano's mouth, extending deep into the earth. The rhythmic clanging of pickaxes could be faintly heard and large men could be seen wandering the perimeter of the chasm. They were armed with magic weapons, like they were guarding something. The volcano's mouth was much wider than any Erza had ever seen in the picture books back at the guild, and the protruding pathways that extended into the volcano's heart were definitely not natural. It then dawned on her that this must be a lacrima mine. There were only two ways to obtain lacrima on Earthland: It must either be synthesized from already-existing samples, or it must be mined from natural deposits. Since the Magic Council controls the legal distribution of lacrima in Fiore, the only reason someone would go to the dangerous lengths of mining it would be if he didn't want the Magic Council to know, and that could only spell trouble. Why had she agreed to accompany Lisanna on this job? Why hadn't she taken more caution? The small, silver-haired girl began stirring in her sleep until her eyes slid open as well.

Lisanna's body shot up into an awkward sitting position, "E-Erza? Where are we?" her voice was barely a whisper, "What happened?"

Erza tried to keep a brave face, but her current situation of being chained in a cage was bringing up some painful memories. It was taking all of her willpower to keep herself from shaking with fear. Instead she settled for a forced, lopsided grin, "Don't worry, we're inside now aren't we? Now all we have to do is rescue the man in the job request."

That didn't seem to raise Lisanna's spirits. In fact her face became even more downtrodden than it already was.

"It's all my fault," she whimpered, "I thought if I completed a difficult quest, everyone in the guild will finally recognize me as my own individual, not just 'The She-Devil's kid sister.' Now we're trapped in here. We might even die in here…"

Erza honestly didn't know what to say. Their predicament was familiar to her, so she couldn't imagine the kinds of trauma poor Lisanna must be feeling right now. The only thing she could do was not give in to despair. She learned that a long time ago.

"Hey, it's okay. I don't blame you, Lisanna," she put her rough palm on her soft forearm, "I know this must seem scary to you, but I have been in much worse situations before. I learned how to survive."

"Y-you've been in a place like this before?" replied Lisanna, wiping a stray tear from her face.

"Well, it's a bit of a long story," was Erza's reluctant response. Did she really want to retell her past to this girl she knew nothing about? No. Her past was her business, and anybody else who followed her on this path would be put in grave danger. She cannot afford to live with anymore regrets.

Lisanna seemed to pick up on this, because she only nodded knowingly, "It's okay if you don't want to tell me. It's not my business who you were before coming to Fairy Tail. That's the great thing about our guild, it's a place for new beginnings, a blank slate for anyone of any background."

Her comment had Erza momentarily taken aback. This girl had read her expressions flawlessly, and knew exactly how to respond. Erza knew that whatever potential everyone thinks she possesses, it is definitely not in social graces. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of heavy footsteps approaching their cell. They heard two voices coming towards them, one male, one female. They could only make out faint pieces of their hushed conversation.

"I'm telling you…..never been more powerful….perfect time to attack…..almost ready…"

"We're taking a big risk here….no way the Balam Alliance would forgive…on our own…."

"…..worry too much…..new recruits every day…"

They stopped their conversation when they arrived at the girls' cell. The man wore a sleeveless bearskin coat that was open down the middle to reveal an extremely well-toned torso. He was twice to size of an average man and stood at least seven feet tall. His head was completely shaved save for a gray, unkempt beard that stopped at his neck. His left shoulder bore a tattoo of a half cross flanked on both sides by circular orb-like shapes. No doubt this was a guild mark, though neither Erza nor Lisanna recognized it.

The woman wore a tight, sparkling gown that hugged every corner of her body. It seemed out of place in this gritty environment, but she didn't seem to care. Her dark brown hair was held behind her head in a bun by two razor sharp pins, forming a perfectly symmetrical 'x.' She was certainly easier on the eyes than the old bear man, but her cold, piercing eyes seemed to burrow into your skull if you stared at them long enough. Her guild mark was located on the left side of her neck, and was noticeably different than the man's. Her mark was a sky blue skull that had been circumscribed in a perfect hollow circle. Simple, yet disturbing.

"I see you got our invitation," said the woman as she stared down Erza and Lisanna with a coy grin, "Don't you think you two are a bit young to be responding to missions like this?"

_That's right,_ Erza just remembered that Master Makarov had instigated the rule that members under the age of fifteen needed to clear their missions with him before going on them, or be accompanied by a mage that is over fifteen. Had Lisanna taken this mission without his consent? If so, there would no doubt be major repercussions when they returned the Fairy Tail. _If_ they returned, that is.

"You two should consider yourselves lucky," boomed the large man, "If we had any reason to believe you to be spies for either the Council or Balam Alliance, we would have had you executed the moment we spotted you climbing this volcano." There was no venom in his voice. Despite his size and attire, he actually spoke with an air of dignity. It was clear he had seen many years' worth of battle.

"Since you came so willingly," the dark-haired woman continued, "We are willing to extend our upmost hospitality," the off-putting grin on her face betrayed her seemingly kind words.

"So you're putting us to work?" asked Erza dryly.

The lady's grin widened. Before continuing she grabbed a small cigarette from a concealed pocket in her gown and lit it with a spark by snapping her fingers, "In a sense, but there will be a twist."

She took a drag from the cigarette and blew a purplish ring away from the girls' faces, "We are the Ghoul-Reaper Coalition," she said, gesturing around her, "Nobody knows of this alliance except for the people in this volcano. The world continues to turn without knowing of its coming apocalypse, and when we reveal ourselves, it will have arrived."

Erza looked down to conceal the fear in her eyes at a realization, "So… you're telling us this… because you don't plan on letting us go."

"Don't get hasty," the large man replied, "We said no such thing. In fact, we'd be more than willing to let you go."

"At a price," the slender woman finished. Lisanna still hadn't said a word… or given any indication she was even listening. The only thing on her face was shock and guilt. Erza needed to get them out of here. She couldn't help but feel responsible for the poor girl.

"What price?" asked Erza, maintaining her composed voice but with eyes still glued to the floor.

"This is a lacrima mine, one of the largest natural deposits in Fiore," continued the woman without missing a beat, "You two are going to be working with the others to suck this volcano dry of all its minerals. Now, I'm sure that sounds like a lot of work, and it certainly is. That is why I've devised a… game of sorts,"

Erza did not like where this was going. The man next to her maintained his stone-faced expression, but she sensed it shift ever so slightly into a sorrowful look. What was the woman planning?

"Here at the Ghoul-Reaper Coalition, we encourage competition between our workers, so…" she clapped her palms together, "You two will be competing to find the most ore by the end of the month, which is about a week and a half," Erza could tell she was getting some sort of sick pleasure from setting this up, "The one who brings me more lacrima, or the one who survives, will be set free to live out what little time there is left in this free world."

Erza couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could anybody conceive such an evil plan?

"Well, children, I hope you are well rested, because we begin right now!" The woman's tone was disgustingly cheerful.


	2. Missing

_I always pick the worst times to leave the guild. I swear these kids wouldn't be able to put their shirts on right if I'm not around._

Makarov had returned from a friend's wedding to be greeted by the guild hall in a crazed state of panic with Mirajane at the center of it all, more furious than usual.

"What the hell was that idiot thinking taking a mission like that!?" Everybody could almost see black clouds of anger fuming out of the little tomboy, "S-she didn't even tell me where she was going! She just up and left with that red-haired freak!"

"Mira, please c-calm down! W-we don't need this right now," her bulky younger brother tried to sound consoling, but it was clear that he was the most worried one in the room. He nearly flinched out of his skin when Mira's head snapped around to glare at him.

The tiny guild master thought it would be best to maintain his calm demeanor as he strode toward the bar at the end of the hall. If he started to lose his head over this, which he was trying very hard not to, the entire place could fall apart from the panic. No need for him to make it worse.

Getting right down to business, Makarov knew he needed to know everything before he could take any actions. "Mira, explain everything from the beginning," he ordered sternly, his voice completely devoid of its normal good humor, "I don't need you stomping around destroying the place. Tell me exactly what's happened and we'll try to figure this out."

With a grumble Mira's head turned toward Makarov's, crazed eyes meeting his cold stare, "It's Lisanna. She took a job with Erza without anyone's consent, and now we don't know where they are. It's been three days."

"I was afraid that was the case," replied Makarov, stroking his chin, "Do you at least know which job they went on? Are there any missing from the request board?"

"I checked b-both the board down here and the S-Class board upstairs… they weren't missing any jobs from that day," chimed Elfman from behind one of the tables, "S-sorry for going upstairs, I know we're not allo—"

"It's alright, Elfman," cut in Makarov, "I'm sure Gildarts would have checked for you anyway if he was here."

"Case in point, we have no idea where she is," muttered Mira, "I bet that red-haired harpy put her up to it as a way of getting back at me!"

"The only one with a grudge here is you, Mirajane," retorted Makarov, "Jumping to those kinds of conclusions will not help us. What we need to do is formulate a plan." His calculating eyes panned the room as he tried to recount each guild member's abilities, there had to be someone whose powers could be used to locate missing people. His eyes landed on a fourteen-year-old boy, dark-haired and wide-eyed, who had been silently crouching next to one of the pillars. He seemed to be fiddling around with a pair of nesting dolls, uninterested in the situation, though he looked up as he felt Makarov's gaze land on him.

"Bickslow," Makarov began, "How are your studies on Seith Magic going?"

The boy was taken aback by the directness of Makarov's question, his expression turning from bored to defensive, "Well… how do you think? I'm dealing with departed souls here, man. Do you know how difficult it is for someone my age to even know where to begin with that? Cut me some slack!"

"You didn't answer my question, child. Depending on the amount of progress you have made, you might be able to help us locate Lisanna and Erza."

"Look, I'm not someone who likes being rushed. Besides, this ain't my problem. Why don't you tell the succubus over there to sprout some wings and fly around 'till she finds her?" Bickslow sneered at Mira, an action he would regret for the next few days.

"You little punk! My sister could be in danger!" Mira was across the room in less than a second, the force of her tackle launched the boy into the wall. A white light ignited from her mouth as her teeth morphed into razor sharp fangs. Without missing a beat, she moved toward the boy's throat. She would have followed through with her attack had she not been stopped short by a firm hand gripping her limber arm. She tried to retaliate by twisting her flexible form to send the newcomer a kick, but was foiled when the arm gripping her suddenly slammed her onto the hard wood floor with a painful snap, sending slivers of cracks creeping out from where her body now lay. As if that weren't enough, Mira suddenly felt waves of electricity jolting through her nerves, causing her to contort and jerk until she was unconscious.

"You really need to work on the timing of your wise-cracks," said the blonde teen as he casually stood up from Mira's limp body, "I doubt you'd still be alive if I wasn't so sharp with my reflexes." With that, the boy put on the headphones that were draped around his neck and walked to the other room, leaving Bickslow speechless, along with the rest of the present wizards. The air of the guild hall had become heavy with anxiety. Makarov looked as if he was about to blow a gasket, but he restrained himself. He'd have to scold his grandson later, after they had found Lisanna.

"Please forgive my sister," said Elfman to the stunned Bickslow as he picked up his motionless sister, "She's really worried about Lisanna, like the rest of us. She just has a strange way of showing it." He carried the unconscious girl to the infirmary where he laid her down to rest, something he knew she needed after constantly seething these past few days. When he returned, Bickslow was standing in his way, staring down at his feet, his expression a mix between terrified and apologetic.

"Look, dude. I might not be able to locate your little sister by seeing her soul, but I might be able to do something just as good," he gestured to the dolls he had been fiddling with, "I have been experimenting with my ability to harness souls, and I've been able to land a couple of servants for my efforts. I think they'd be more than willing to go out and search for your sister. They'll make excellent scouts." There was some unnatural sweat leaking down Bickslow's forehead, "That's the best I've got. So… when Mira wakes up, tell her I was a big help, okay?" he finished with a nervous chuckle. Elfman just shook his head. Mirajane did have a way of getting others to do what she wanted…

* * *

Erza had forgotten what constant manual labor felt like. At least the cool, clammy environment of the Tower of Heaven had been suitable for constant physical exertion. In the bowels of this volcano it took all of her willpower to not remove any more of her clothing. She may be a slave, but that doesn't mean she'll sacrifice her dignity, especially when trying to give Lisanna someone to look up to. She was sure the poor white-haired girl would have given up on the first day had it not been for Erza's encouragement. They had been passing their downtime trying to formulate an escape plan when they saw another person approaching them. He looked to be around Erza's age, with a pickaxe resting on his shoulder.

"You want to escape, eh?" This purple-haired boy had apparently been eavesdropping on Erza and Lisanna, "I can say from experience that it ain't as easy as it sounds. In the five months they've kept me, every one of my escape attempts have failed. All forty of 'em. But that won't slow me down," he gave Erza a flirtatious grin. Erza just rolled her eyes. The last thing she needed was someone else to look after, so giving everyone but Lisanna the cold shoulder seemed like the best course of action.

"My first was my most successful. I actually was out for a few seconds, but that boss lady… the tall one with the creepy tattoo on her neck. She summoned this huge tornado with a flick of her wrist! Never seen anything like it! Thought the wench was gonna kill me on the spot, but I guess they need all the laborers they can get."

_Great, a shameless flirt _and _a chatterbox, just what I need._ Needless to say, Erza was getting fed up with this boy really fast. It wasn't entirely his fault, she just was not in a sociable mood. Though it had been so long since she _had _been in one that she probably forgot what it meant to be sociable. She caught herself longing for the noisy atmosphere of the guild hall to drown out her emotions. She wanted to retreat like a turtle into the armor she had been wearing for the past few months. She just wanted to be anywhere, _anywhere_, but here.

"—until suddenly, five guards drop out of nowhere like they were expecting me, yeah? Threatened to cut one of my fingers off but I wasn't scared, oh no, not the great Bora! Mark my words, beautiful rose, one day, these people will be _my_ slaves!"

Erza had half a mind to sock this fool right in the stomach, but figured it would be better to conserve her energy for when she really needed it. And loath as she was to admit it, if this boy was telling the truth about his daring endeavors, he could be the key to their escape. From what she picked up while half-listening to his stories, the biggest flaw was that he always was alone, and it didn't seem he had much talent wielding magic, if any. But it was also clear that he was clever, and that he seemed to have a grasp on the layout of the place. She learned long ago that when it's a fight for survival, beggars can't be choosers when it came to companions.

* * *

"C'mon, Shorty, move those legs!"

Lisanna was falling behind as the trio was making a break for the surface, and Bora's words of "encouragement" weren't helping. All three of them were caked with mud and dust from a day of grueling manual labor. Bora seemed to be able to hold his own considering he had been working under these conditions for much longer, though his ragged breathing betrayed his confident façade. Under her chest plate Erza was drenched in sweat and her hair stuck to her face and neck like paste. Lisanna was worse for wear, being shorter than Erza she had to work twice as hard to keep up with her taller companions. Her face was pink from exhaustion and she looked like she could collapse at any moment the way she swayed as her wobbly legs tried to keep up. It hadn't taken long for the guards to realize they had escaped and had given chase almost immediately, not one of Bora's best plans if he were perfectly honest with himself. The only way he saw this working was if there was some sort of distraction…

As if on cue, one of Lisanna's bare toes struck a stray rock in their path, causing her to painfully crash into the gravelly surface of the cave with a fearful yelp. Erza and Bora slid to a halt and looked back when they heard the fall. Lisanna was crumpled on the ground, her knees scraped and muddied and a trail of blood running down her right arm.

"I-I'm sorry!" Lisanna huffed as the rushed footsteps of their pursuers grew louder in the dimly lit cavern. "I'm so exhausted from working all day, my legs feel like pudding!" Her feeble attempts at standing were met with no success as her tiny form began crawling at a snail's pace toward her two companions.

Erza began running back for her when she was firmly grabbed in the arm by their purple-haired "mastermind".

"Don't be stupid, Red, the exit is just ahead! I can see the sky from here! Just leave her!" Bora rasped through his dry throat. The moonlight outside was just barely visible through the cave's mouth. Going with the plan meant freedom, but Erza had already abandoned friends once in the past, and she would not be able to live with herself if she let it happen again.

"I'm part of the reason we were captured in the first place!" Erza snapped, shoving the boy's arm away from her with her free hand, "If you want freedom so bad, just go ahead and leave, but I'm not leaving without Lisanna!"

As Erza began sprinting back to the petite girl, torchlight became visible from the corner they just rounded, hushed voices were now audible as the light behind them became brighter and brighter. Their pursuers were only seconds behind by now, and Bora was sick of being punished for all his failed escape attempts. This was the chance of a lifetime, and he will not let it go to waste.

"Dammit," muttered Bora as he turned toward the exit, "If that idiot wants to die in that volcano, that's her agenda, I'm outta here." As he ran towards the exit he could see Erza picking Lisanna up and supporting her as they made to follow him. They didn't get far. As Bora watched the guards round the corner and grab the two girls, he was greeted by the chilly night air of the mountain, making his way through the exit. The muffled screams of his companions was the last thing he heard as he sprinted out of the cave and into the vast moonlit mountain range.


End file.
